Are We Academically Adrift in America?

Academically Adrift is a provocative, recently-published book that is generating a lot of conversation in academic circles and in the general public.  Authors Richard Arum,  professor of sociology and education at New York University, and Josipa Roksa, professor of sociology at University of Virginia, publish the findings of their four-year study of over 2,000 undergraduate students and present the case that

45% "demonstrated no significant gains in critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and written communications during the first two years of college," and 36% showed no improvement over the entire four years

According to the authors, the lack of academic rigor is a primary culprit in students' deficiencies in developing higher reasoning, writing, and reading skills.  The majority of students reported that very few of their courses required them to write more than 20 pages total for the entire semester; even fewer required that they read 40 or more pages during the course of a week.

The research focuses on 4-year public and private institutions only. Arum and Roksa find that large lecture classes and the emphasis upon faculty research rather than teaching impede student development of critical skills. Community colleges are not a part of the study.  Interestingly, however, community colleges' general emphases on smaller class sizes, remediation, and on the work of faculty in the classroom seems to place 2-year institutions at an advantage in the area of developing student skills in analysis, writing, and reading.

Your comments or reactions to Academically Adrift and its findings are welcome.